Bird Watching at Holyrood

This was to be a quiet weekend with the hubby working both days, but the thought of two days with no solid plan was too against my nature. Fortunately, a good friend of mine came to the rescue and a girls day was organised (Missy most definitely being one of the girls!).

The weather was originally meant to be pretty bleak Saturday, so we decided on a trip to town to do Holyrood and Arthur's Seat with the intention of finding a nice cosy pub once we were too wet and cold. It came as a bit of a surprise as the overcast clouds broke as we met up and the sun came out for us. Our walk turned into a meander before we simply gave up by the loch and decided to share some  chocolate mini eggs and watch the birds as Missy sunbathed.

A pheasant was strutting about taking no notice of the many dogs off lead. Missy gave up her sunbathing to stand and watch the silly thing as it confidently strode towards us. I'm not terribly sure what it expected, but eventually Missy gave a lighthearted run at it and stopped a good ten feet from it as it flew (she enjoys flushing pheasants, especially when you least expect to have a shrieking ball of feathers flap noisily past your head, but has never had an inclination to catch one) and it grudgingly stared at us from the other side of the lake.

Missy trying this bird watching malarkey

My friend will insist she isn't a bird watcher. She will compel you to believe that she doesn't take any interest at all in the sport and that she only knows her different ducks due to her father being a keen bird watcher. Well, as we playfully argued over the semantics of using the word "sea" to describe gulls, she pointed out pheasants, different ducks and then spotted the heron.

It was small by heron standards, perhaps a hatch-ling from last year, and it was creeping about in the reeds and doing a very good job of not being noticed. We both grabbed our cameras and waited for the moment it would become visible from the reed. Except it didn't move from them. It kept creeping round, one long leg moving after another long careful step. Missy had figured out we were looking at something and, sniffing, she stood up for a better look.

The heron opened its wings and glided away from us to the other side of the lake. Unimpressed, Missy returned to sunbathing as my friend and I compared photos. She had brought her telescopic lens so had managed some good close ups whilst I only had my basic lens and had caught the scene as a whole.

Deciding that that was certainly enough excitement for the day, we headed to the Auld Hoose and had the biggest plate of nachos you have ever seen. We couldn't finish it and Missy was allowed a few plain nachos. We said farewells, stopped midway home to walk at Almond Valley and then arrived home at four.

As the heavens opened.

I had a brief panic about my courgettes which I had planted out that morning, but decided there was nothing to really be done and chilled out with some tea and a good book.

Today was a quiet day. The sun was shining as promised and I did some more gardening (moving my established strawberries into a bigger pot and getting my Chinese Cabbage out of the seedling trays and into something a bit more suitable). For the most part I was rolling about in the grass playing with my macro lens. It was a Christmas gift and I've only just had a chance to play with it now. 

There was some baking too and then some sewing. I've just finished a new project, but want to do some matching pieces to go with it before I show it off, so I'll share a project from earlier in the week:

These were meant to be a surprise present for my nephew, but after receiving a picture of him grinning away in a set I had made his sister some years ago, I panicked about the fit. Turns out my nephew is growing much faster than my niece did! After a quick discussion, I've added some little extensions to the shoulder straps and my sister is confident that he should be able to wear them for a wee bit.

I'm going to skip age 2 and move right onto age 3!

Next weekend promises some exciting adventures, so I'll see you all then!

Playing with Photography

Just a short one today. I start my new job tomorrow and I'm busy panicking over all the silly little things (Is there a microwave for heating up lunch? Should I wear the company polo shirt or a proper shirt? etc). I have managed to keep myself busy to try and stop fretting about what I know are silly things, and as a result its been quite an eclectic week!

My last day was Friday and I'd already organised it to be a half day. It went really quickly - one of the instruments was being difficult (clearly its going to miss me!) so I helped out with that in the morning and then took a really long morning break as I was handing out homemade shortbread to everyone. My new role is still in the same company, but its a completely different department and a different building, so I wasn't sure if I was going to get the big cheerio from the wing. 

I did get the big send off - the entire wing crammed into one of the labs and, despite trying to hide behind one of the instruments, I was presented with a card and some gifts (a multicoloured, multi-tool - is that not the best?! And a porg mug! And magnetic poo, but everyone gets poo, that's what happens when you work for the water industry!). Whilst I certainly didn't get upset or cry or anything, I could feel the emotionals trying to get me. I think its good to move on from a place before you grow to hate it, but I know I need a new challenge - still, there's a few faces there I am really going to miss.

Friday I also hosted Burns night for the family (sadly not many photos) and despite the fact that I despise haggis in any form, managed to pull together a feast that went down very well. As always, dessert is important to me and the crowning glory of the night was the apple and bramble pie I made. The hubby did the Haggis Hunting poem, which went down far better than Ode to a Haggis (which I always felt was far too long!) and I think we managed the right amount of tradition that it felt like a Burns Supper and not just a get-together.

Is it still #NoFilter when the filter is an external sheet of glass?

Yesterday I met up with a friend who has just gotten herself a D-SLR (canon, so sadly we cant share lenses etc as I have a Nikon) and we took Missy out on a photography walk around Dechmont. I've talked about the abandoned asylum before and its a great place to get some weird and wonderful photographs. One of the things she brought were glass filters that slot into a holder in front of your lens (I got to play with these as she needed the 58 clip on ring, and I was a 55), so we had tremendous fun seeing what colours did what. I knew previously that a yellow filter actually adds extra depth for black and white photography, so we put that to the test amongst other things.

It was quite fun to see that we both had a different eye for a picture - whilst effectively taking the same shot, we would frame things differently or spot different little oddities to focus on when going around the same building. Missy also showed off how good she is at having her picture taken, happily going were asked and patiently waiting for her reward. She did burn off a lot of energy chasing squirrels and bunnies too, so the whole walk wasn't spent bumbling about after us!

Today has been a sewing day - I have my next dance exam in February (Highland and National) and the Hornpipe outfit I'd picked up second hand was just all the wrong sizes, so I've dropping hems and nipping in seams for most of the day. I'm in a distracted mood, so really the job shouldn't have taken as long as it has! But I'm happy with it now, so its just a case of trying to get some practise in!

On a side note, I've been tagged in that 7 day black and white photo challenge thats been doing the rounds on Facebook, so I'll put them all together on here next week with an explanation for each of them!

An Easter Throwback

Easter this year is quite late it seems - my Facebook has spnt the last few days showing me all the goodies I've made and baked over the last several years, and I feel that I'm going to have to pull something spectacular out the hat this year.

The irony that I'm competing with myself from last year has not been lost on me, dont worry!

So, its kind of become a tradition since Missy arrived in our lives to gather the clan together and do an Easter dog walk and picnic (and eat copious amounts of cake and chocolate!) Last year my older sister led the celebrations and Missy gatecrashed the Easter bonnet competition.

That's right. Gatecrashed and won.

It took some convincing, but my niece and nephew did eventually see the funny side of it! Especially after I provided lots of baked goodies and explained to them that I had wanted to do an Easter photo shoot with Missy for her Easter cards (another tradition, after receiving so many cards with my nieces and nephews photos on it, I started to do the same with my fur-baby, the satire backfired and everyone thought it was brilliant!)

Anyway, this was last years Easter card picture:

I don't know why this makes me think of Van Gogh...

I'd like to pretend that it was a really easy and simple process to put together, but in reality there is much bribery and waving of squeaky toys. I wont make Missy do something she doesn't want to do, and even then, I keep what she will tolerate to very short 2-3 minute sessions. 

Bit of a rambling post today, I'm in the process of picking out some doggy recipes for Easter and prepping Missys new Easter bonnet as a rematch has been called!

Till next time!

A behind the scenes view